The field of this invention is adapters for chargers that charge batteries in mobile telephones, and more particularly, such adapters as part of an assembly that are used with chargers that charge batteries that remain embedded in the mobile telephone while being charged.
Mobile telephones come in many different varieties. When purchased, the consumer also purchases a charger to recharge the rechargeable battery that is inside the mobile telephone. It is common for batteries of the mobile telephone to run out of charge while in the midst of use. Such situations often happen when the user of the mobile telephone is not near his charger. For example, the user may be walking on the street or may be in the office while the charger may be home or in the car. Commonly, in such situations, the user approaches other individuals in the office or on the street and asks to borrow the other person""s mobile telephone charger to recharge the battery inside the user""s mobile telephone. The problem is that the charger of one mobile telephone is usually not compatible with the battery in other mobile telephones. There is a compelling need to standardize the chargers or find some other way that any user who runs out of electrical energy and needs to borrow someone else""s charger is likely to succeed in finding a second user whose mobile telephone charger is compatible with the first user""s mobile telephone.
A second problem with having non-standardized chargers for mobile telephones is that each time someone purchases a new mobile telephone that purchaser must also purchase a new charger compatible with the new mobile telephone.
Mobile telephones have the ability to be charged in one of two ways: (1) either to charge the battery while the battery is in the phone with a relatively small charger (2) or else take the battery out of the phone and place it on a flat charger that is somewhat larger than the charger in the first way. With respect to the second way, U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,010 discloses a charger that is compatible with different-sized rechargeable batteries of mobile telephones. The ""010 patent standardizes chargers used with detachable batteries by providing an adapter for such chargers. Therefore the user does not have to buy new chargers but rather only has to buy new adapters. This solves the second problem mentioned abovexe2x80x94the cost of having to buy new chargers. The ""010 patent solves this problem with respect to mobile telephones whose batteries are charged after being removed from the mobile telephone.
In order to address the first problem of not being able to readily borrow a charger that is compatible with one""s mobile telephone battery, the ""010 patent would require that first user constantly carry around the relatively bulky adapter. This is not much better than having to carry around one""s own charger all the time. But if a person would take the trouble to carry around his or her own charger, there would never have been a problem in the first place necessitating borrowing a charger. In other words, people do not carry around their chargers everywhere because they are bulky.
There is a compelling need to be able to borrow charging power from neighbors likely to have compatible chargers in a way that does not require carrying around a bulky object in addition to the mobile telephone itself With mobile telephones becoming smaller and smaller, users have diminished tolerance for carrying around a bulky charger. They also have diminished tolerance for carrying around a relatively bulky adapter, something that would seem to be required by a user of the ""010 patent who wants to be able to borrow electrical charging power from other mobile telephone users.
Moreover, the ""010 patent does not address standardizing the large category of chargers that are designed charge mobile telephone batteries while the battery remains embedded inside the mobile telephonexe2x80x94the first way of charging batteries mentioned above. This is also important because the flat somewhat larger charger used to charge external battery packs are not as common as the smaller charger for internal batteries.
The assembly apparatus of the present invention solves both the problem of being able to borrow other users"" chargers without having to carry around any other bulky object (besides the mobile telephone itself) and avoids the necessity of having to constantly purchase a new charger each time a new model mobile telephone is purchased. The assembly of the present invention is also specifically useful for mobile telephones that are charged while the battery remains in the phone. The present invention eliminates the problem of getting stuck without a charger and being unable to borrow a compatible charger from someone near you. With the present invention, the adapter is very small and is attachable to the mobile phone externally in a manner that allows the adapter to stick to the phone regardless of the position that the phone is in. Since the adapter that you have need only be stuck to the phone and carried with the phone, it is more convenient and since you always have your adapter with you, you are never left without access to a charger since you can adapt to anyone else""s charger.
The following important objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(1) to provide an adapter and charger assembly that is capable of charging a battery of any mobile telephone in which the battery of said mobile telephone is charged while the battery remains embedded in the mobile telephone;
(2) to provide an adapter and charger assembly that standardizes the size and shape of chargers in that the member projecting from the charger is of a standard size and shape,
(3) to provide an adapter and charger assembly that allows its owner to conveniently borrow electrical chargers from other owners of other makes and models of mobile telephones and chargers;
(4) to provide an adapter and charger assembly wherein the adapter interface comes in varying models having different second male connecting members projecting therefrom uniquely compatible with a particular make and model mobile telephone;
(5) to provide an adapter and charger assembly that includes an adapter interface that is compact and lightweight;
(6) to provide an adapter and charger assembly that includes an adapter interface that is sufficiently compact and lightweight that said adapter interface can hang from a mobile telephone in a connected position without falling;
(7) to provide am adapter and charger assembly that includes an adapter interface that is sufficiently compact and lightweight that it stays connected to the phone regardless of the position that the phone is held in.
(8) to provide an adapter and charger assembly that includes an adapter interface that is sufficiently compact that the diameter of said adapter interface does not significantly exceed the diameter of most models of mobile telephone;
(9) to provide a standardized charger of an adapter and charger assembly so that users can avoid having to buy a new charger with each purchase of a new mobile telephone;
(10) to provide an adapter and charger assembly wherein the adapter interface in one embodiment has a length, width and thickness that combined does not exceed approximately three inches;
(11) to provide an adapter and charger assembly wherein the adapter interface when attached to the mobile telephone during charging does not interfere with the telephone user""s ability to comfortably hold and speak on the mobile telephone;
(12) to provide an adapter and charger assembly wherein the adapter interface and one side with e female cavity to receive a male connecting member projecting from a side of the charger and a second side having a second male connecting member projecting therefrom that is inserted into a recess of a mobile telephone during charging, the second male connecting member being uniquely compatible with the recess of that model and make mobile telephone;
(13) to provide an adapter and charger assembly wherein the adapter interface is flush against the mobile telephone to make it more comfortable for the user of the mobile telephone to hold and use the mobile telephone while the adapter interface is attached thereto.